Together Forever
by Kaoru dono
Summary: My first fanfic! K&K. This is the first part in a small series I intend to do. Please read to see how these two come together. This is only part one, the rest of the story will come together soon, I promise. This is only the very beginning
1. The dream

Hello everyone, this is the first fanfic I have ever decided to post up online. ^_^ This is the first part of a small series I've been writing. This part will have maybe a few chapters, and then I'll move onto part two. Please leave me some reviews so I can learn how to get better at writing. I hope you all enjoy the story. Chapter 2 should be uploaded soon. 

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters. I'm merely borrowing from Watsuki-sensei.

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Kaoru stood by the river, shafts of silver moonlight pierced through the gray clouds. She gazed up at the moon half hidden by the clouds. A light mist covered the ground. She gazed silently at her reflection in the river water. Her long black hair flowed loosely about her shoulders, unconfined from her usual bow. Her dark blue eyes gazed back at her own. The sudden soft sound of footsteps made her turn around. There, behind her, she found Kenshin walking up to her.

"Kenshin!" she exclaimed and turned to greet him, then stopped short as she saw the look in his eyes. She knew that look; it was the same as the time he had left her for Kyoto, a mixture of soft sweetness, pain and sorrow. 

"Kenshin?" Kaoru whispered, making his name a question. Her heart beat wildly and she clenched her hands tightly. He didn't mean to leave…did he? Kenshin stopped in front of her and smiled.

"Kaoru-dono, I have decided that it is time to for me to leave. I shall not put you in any more danger by being near you," he whispered. Tears filled Kaoru's eyes. So, he did mean to leave again. Then she'd have to stop him, no matter what.

"Kenshin…no…please…don't leave," Kaoru managed to choke out past her tears, finding the voice she had lost the first time he had left. She reached out and grasped the sleeve of his gi. Kenshin smiled and gently eased her fingers away.

"Sessha wa Rurouni," he said softly and turned away from her. Kaoru watched as he slowly walked into the darkness. 

"Ke…Kenshin…" Kaoru whispered. Then, summoning up her nerve, she ran after him, arms outstretched, calling his name. But he had already vanished into the shadows and Kaoru plunged into the darkness after him. But the moonlight had become lost behind the clouds, leaving Kaoru alone in the cold mist and darkness.

"Kenshin! Kenshin! Please come back!" Kaoru called out desperately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaoru awoke with a start. A dry sob escaped her as she sat up. With one shaking hand she reached up to brush away the tears streaming down her cheeks. It had been a dream, all of it, a dream. But the pain and fear lingered within her. Even after all this time, even after Kyoto, even after Enishi's Jinchuu, Kaoru still feared Kenshin leaving her. The scar left on her heart when he left for Kyoto remained.

Kaoru sighed and willed herself to calm down. Kenshin was still there, right in the room next to hers. Knowing that it would be impossible for her to fall asleep now, Kaoru decided to get some fresh air outside, perhaps even take a walk. She quickly donned a haori and as quietly as she could, slid the shoji open and walked outside.

The cool air felt wonderful in the still night. The moonlight was bright enough to see by, but not to bright as to outshine the stars. Kaoru gazed up at them, there were so many. 

Kaoru's eyes widened in sudden surprise as a shooting star passed by overhead. This was her first shooting star, try as she would when she was younger; she was never in the right place at the right time to see one. 

"I should make a wish," she whispered, after all, it was her very first shooting star. So, Kaoru closed her eyes and thought of her wish.

"I wish…I wish for Kenshin to always stay by me, that we'll be together forever," she said and looked up again once more at the heavens. Feeling a bit better, Kaoru decided that she would take a little walk. It would be unwise to stray too far from the dojo, but going down a few streets would be fine.

Kaoru cautiously opened the dojo gate, not wanting to wake Kenshin; Yahiko was staying at the Akabeko for a few days to help with some construction for Tae. Sanosuke too had been helping as a way of paying for his tab. Kaoru sighed and slipped out into the street. There was a slight breeze in the air now; it blew by gently, ruffling her hair. Shivering slightly, Kaoru pulled the haori tighter against herself. 

The streets were most certainly much quieter during the night. It was just like the night when Kaoru had met Kenshin. She could remember it clearly. The stars shone above and the moonlight illuminated the street. She also remembered that she found Kenshin by following the sound of his footsteps, thinking he was the one who was tarnishing the name of her dojo. Kaoru could almost hear those footsteps now; in fact…she could hear footsteps. 

Kaoru spun around quickly to see who was there. Her eyes widened when she found three towering shadows behind her in the darkness, their faces hidden in the heavy mist.

"Hey girl, what are you doing out all by yourself?" sneered one of the figures and stepped closer to her. The other two did the same and Kaoru could see that all three where very tall and strong looking men. They all had a gruff appearance and Kaoru definitely didn't like the looks in their eyes. Kaoru took a step backwards and wished she was in her gi and hakama instead of her yukata and haori, and that she had her bokken in her hand.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" another jeered and the other two laughed crudely. "Why don't you come home with us?"

Kaoru grit her teeth and went into a fighting stance.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll walk away right now," Kaoru warned in a firm voice that she was glad did not quiver. Even though these men were larger than she was, it didn't change the fact that she was the shihandai of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. And being the shihandai of a sword technique used to protect, she knew how to fight even without a weapon, however, she knew not to take these thugs lightly. 

The three men released a sharp bark of laughter and then advanced forward. One of the men broke from the trio and lunged at Kaoru. Though in an instant she had used his own weight and force to throw him to the ground into a wall where he lay quite still. The two companions of the unconscious one stopped in their tracks in shock.

"Who's next?" Kaoru grinned fiercely, feeling confident. The thugs looked taken aback, but they recovered within a moment's time. The second one raced towards her and she this time ducked and used her elbow to catch him right in the stomach, knocking all air from his lungs. He too fell over and did not get up again. Kaoru turned and faced the last man. 

"You b*tch!" he snarled and ran at her. Kaoru planned to quickly dodge out of his way and trip him. But before she could, he pulled out a dagger from a sheath at his side that she hadn't noticed before. Being caught off guard, Kaoru suddenly found herself knocked to the ground. Before she could even cry out the man had kicked her in the stomach, leaving her without air and a voice to even cry out. 

Wincing, Kaoru struggled to her feet to face him, but she felt one arm grasp her around waist, pinning her arms to her side and the other hand holding the dagger was at her throat. 

"Let go of me!" Kaoru demanded, fighting against his grasp. In reply the man swiftly stabbed his dagger into her left shoulder. She heard him laugh as she cried out in pain. 

"I'll make you pay for all the trouble you caused…" he snarled. Kaoru could feel the blood trickling down her shoulder and the sharp pain that radiated from it. Cold fear gripped her and tears gathered in her eyes. 

"Kenshin…" Kaoru whispered, her vision already blurred by pain and tears. She heard the cold sneer of her attacker…and then…

"If you do not remove your hands from her immediately, I will remove them for you…permanently," came a voice in a low feral growl that Kaoru immediately recognized as Kenshin's. Kaoru looked up and saw him standing in a patch of moonlight; it glinted on the partially drawn sakabatou. But what glinted even more dangerous still was the amber glow in Kenshin's eyes…Battousai's eyes. His red hair flew about his shoulders in the slight breeze. He truly looked like a fairy tale hero. 

"Kenshin!" Kaoru cried and found the dagger pressed more closely to her throat, stilling her voice, causing more tears to flow. Kenshin's eyes flared at the sight of her tears, the sound of her frightened voice. 

Kaoru's captor looked over Kenshin. He saw his slight frame, his almost delicate features, and laughed. 

"What are you going to do?" he asked sarcastically. He brutally threw Kaoru aside on the ground and signaled Kenshin to come at him. Kaoru whimpered in pain as she landed on her injured shoulder. Kenshin's glared at the man in pure blood red rage. With a furious yell Kenshin charged forward, almost seeming to vanish in inhuman speed. There was a blinding flash as Kenshin drew his sword in battoujutsu and hit the offending man across the chest. There was sound of ribs breaking and the man fell and lay crumpled on the ground. Kenshin scowled at the man as he re-sheathed the sakabatou in one swift movement, his eyes shone with fire.

"You are lucky I am no longer the hitokiri I once was. I would have given you a long, painful death…" Kenshin growled.

"Good job, Battousai," came a voice through the shadows of an alleyway. Kenshin spun around quickly, knowing the owner of the voice, but not trusting it either.

"I have no time for you Saitou," Kenshin said angrily. Saitou smirked.

"I'm not here for you, I'm here to take these low-lifes to jail. The Kamiya girl seems to have done a good job fighting" he said looking at the two thugs Kaoru had knocked down. "But she was rather noisy. Someone ran over to the police station and reported a girl being attacked. I'm disappointed in you Battousai, I thought that you'd at least kill this last one here," he said and kicked the man Kenshin had defeated. "I'll be going now…" Saitou smirked and motioned for four more policemen that were waiting in the alley to come help him take the knocked out thugs away.

Kenshin ran straight to Kaoru's side. He picked her up gently, horrified at the sight of her red blood splashed against her white yukata.

Saitou was just about to leave when he took one last at Kenshin and shook his head. One moment there had been the harsh amber eyes and ferocity of the Battousai, now there was only that violet-eyed softy of a Rurouni. Pathetic. If one of those men had dared harm Tokio, they would all be dead. With one last final disapproving smirk, he and the rest of the policemen stalked away, carrying the knocked out thugs.

"Kaoru-dono…" Kenshin whispered and touched her cheek with all the tenderness he had. Kaoru's eyes opened slightly and through the haze of pain slowly focused on Kenshin. 

"Kenshin…gomen… nasai…" Kaoru whispered, before fainting in his arms.


	2. A wish come true

**Chapter 2**

A wish come true

Kenshin gazed sadly down at Kaoru. How could he have let this happen? He should have been there sooner to protect her. He quickly shook himself out of berating himself to concentrate on taking care of Kaoru; he could scold himself later. Right now, getting Kaoru safely back home came first. 

Kenshin ran swiftly back to the dojo, cradling Kaoru gently in his arms. Upon reaching the dojo he ran straight for her room and set her down on her futon. 

"Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin said softly, but got no response, it appeared that the night's events proved to be too traumatic for her and she was still unconscious. He looked at her still bleeding shoulder grimly. He dared not carry her all the way to Dr. Gensai's clinic; she could lose too much blood by then. He decided that he had to dress the wound right away. And so he ran to find the bandages and materials to treat her wound, wishing that Yahiko wasn't at the Akabeko so he could send him to fetch Megumi.

Clutching the bandages tightly, Kenshin knelt next to Kaoru, trying to determine the best way examine her wound without having to remove too much of her yukata. Blushing slightly, Kenshin gently picked Kaoru up into a sitting position and tried to summon up the nerve to pull down part of her yukata to examine and bandage her shoulder. He was just about to move when he felt her stir in his arms.

"Kaoru-dono? Can you hear me? Daijoubu de gozaru ka?" Kenshin said. Kaoru's eyes slowly fluttered open. She focused on his face and saw his eyes filled with worry and concern.

"Kenshin…" she murmured. "I'm sorry, I've caused trouble for you again…I…I…"

"Shh…Kaoru-dono, it's all right," he whispered, then added, "I have to take care of that cut on your shoulder but…but…" Kenshin trailed off, looked away and blushed. Kaoru shifted to face him better and winced at the sharp pain that stabbed suddenly in her shoulder. For the first time she looked at her shoulder and was surprised at how much blood there was. Kenshin was right; the wound had to be treated soon. But to do that she would have to remove part of her yukata. So that's what Kenshin was blushing about. Kaoru blushed as well. There was no way that she could bandage the wound herself with one arm, she'd need Kenshin's help. 

"Turn around for a moment, I'll drape part the yukata over me and you can help me with my shoulder…" Kaoru said softly, blushing all the while. She saw Kenshin turn bright red, nod and turn away. Biting her lip, Kaoru carefully rearranged her yukata.

Kenshin heard the faint rustle of fabric and turned around once she voiced that she was done. All breath left his lungs as his eyes fell on her. True she was mostly covered, but the way the moonlight shone on her rosy cheeks and the smoothness of her skin took his breath away. Then he turned his eyes to her cut. He sighed internally; it was not as bad as he imagined. Taking a soft cloth and dipping it in a water basin he gently reached forward to clean the blood off the cut. His hand trembled as he reached out, afraid that he would hurt her. 

"The cut isn't as bad as I had thought, Kaoru-dono, it will not need stitches," Kenshin said. _But it still must hurt you so much, _he thought sadly as he saw her flinch with pain. He sighed and picked up the linen bandages. 

"Kaoru-dono, I'll try to be careful so this will not hurt," Kenshin whispered. Kaoru shyly nodded. At the first touch of his fingertips on her shoulder, she stiffened. Startled, bewildered and…happy all a once. Kenshin had hardly every touched her and so she savored his careful touch now. The mere feeling or the brush of his fingertips nearly made her forget the pain in her shoulder. She looked at Kenshin's face, curious to see if she could read his emotions there. What she saw made her smile internally. On his face she found the softest of gazes, concentration and concern in his violet eyes.

Soon the clean linen bandage was being wrapped around Kaoru's shoulder. When the bandage had to be looped around her shoulder, Kenshin moved forward and almost…almost embraced her as he passed the roll of linen from one hand to another. His ministrations were so gentle, so tender and full of care, unbidden, tears formed in Kaoru's eyes. The knowledge that he would treat her so kindly and yet the fact that he didn't love her the way she loved him stung her sharply. Against her will a sob escaped her.

"Kaoru-dono? Did I hurt you? I didn't pull the bandage too tight did I?" Kenshin asked, startled at the sound of her sob. 

"No Kenshin, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong at all…" Kaoru answered, even though her voice was no more than a whisper. 

_She's lying_. Kenshin thought as he finally finished bandaging Kaoru's shoulder. _Something is wrong… _Kaoru quietly pulled up and tied her yukata back in place. 

"Kaoru-dono, please tell me what's wrong." Kenshin said. _Please, tell me, I can't bear it when you hurt like this. I must be able to do something to rid you of that sadness I see in your eyes._

Kaoru looked at Kenshin, her eyes blazing with the fierce pain that she had been holding back for so long. So long had she loved him, so long had she yearned to know that he loved her in return. Kenshin's eyes looked so pleadingly into hers, the warm violet captivating her, so much that she had to turn away as more tears continued to spill down her cheeks. Suddenly the night's events and her current sadness overtook her and she bowed her head as she began to sob.

Alarmed, Kenshin gently laid a hand on her good shoulder and whispered her name. All he got in reply was a slight shake of her head and more tears.

"Kaoru-dono, what is it? There must be something I can do." Kenshin said softly. Kaoru dared once more to look at his pleading face. How she longed to tell him why she was so sad and lonely. _I want to tell him, but what if he rejects me?_ She swallowed. _What shall I do? Shall I tell him? I've waited so long…I need an answer from him… I need to know…_ Then, finally, it settled deep within Kaoru, the resolve to tell Kenshin how she felt. She would tell him, and…and except whatever feelings he returned to her. Though determined to make sure he wouldn't leave. Even if he didn't love her that way, she still wanted him close by. Summoning up her courage, she looked him straight in the eye, and spoke.

"Kenshin…I love you." Kaoru said faintly, barely over a whisper.

Kenshin gasped, suddenly still. Kaoru gulped.

"I love you, Kenshin. I've loved you for a long time. And you, you're always so kind to me, but I don't know how you see me. Am I a child to you? Am I just your friend? Am I more than that? I just don't know, and it hurts, Kenshin, it hurts so, so much…" Kaoru trailed off sobbing, Kenshin's startled silence making her heart ache. So, he didn't love her after all... With a sob of anguish Kaoru attempted to rise, wanting to leave the room so she could be alone. Kenshin's hand stilled her as she began to rise.

"Kaoru-dono," he merely whispered. Then, to Kaoru's great shock, he moved forward and embraced her, gently. When he withdrew from her he tenderly tilted her face with one hand to face him. "Kaoru-dono, do you know why I was out tonight?"

Kaoru sniffled. "Be…because I woke you up, didn't I? I was too loud when I closed the dojo gate." Kenshin shook his head.

"Yes, and no. I woke up because I heard you calling me. I suppose you had just awakened from a disturbing dream, you called out for me. I went to check on you, and you were standing outside, gazing at the sky." He pulled Kaoru closer to him, just enough so he could feel her wildly beating heart against his chest. _So beautiful…I thought she was an angel when I saw her standing outside like that, her eyes gazing at the heavens._ "I heard the wish you made on that shooting star…" he whispered softly in her ear.

Kaoru gasped. He had heard her? She blushed furiously as he felt his arms tighten around her slightly.

"I…I wanted to tell you…that's why I was out, I followed you. I love you too. I want to stay with you forever too, aishiteru." He whispered. 

Kaoru burst into tears as she heard this. She had wanted and dreamed of this for so long. She buried her head in his chest and she felt him stroke her hair gently and whisper.

"I've wanted to tell you for so long…but…but I thought I didn't deserve you, that if I got too close, you'd be in danger." He held her tighter still, his arms trembling slightly. Another sob escaped Kaoru.

"Sessha wa baka de gozaru na…" he said and pulled back to look at her. She gazed back at him with tear filled eyes. 

"Kenshin, I don't care about danger, I never have. I'm just happy being with you, all of you, Battousai, Rurouni, I love who you are. I love Himura Kenshin!" she said firmly, daring him to deny it. Kenshin smiled and moved to embrace her yet again, hiding his tears of joy in the fall of her hair, momentarily losing himself in the jasmine scent. How wonderful it felt to be so close to her, to finally be able to love her the way he had wanted. He was also so relieved to hear her confession of love. He admitted he did not know just how deep her love was for him. If he had confessed his love for her when all she had was a simple crush…He shook his head, from now on he'd make up for ever doubting her love, for ever doubting her. And he was determined to protect her, no matter what. Nothing, nothing would ever harm her.

"Well, Kamiya Kaoru," Kenshin said, resting his forehead against hers. "I'd say your…our wish has just come true, how about you?"

Kaoru gave him a warm smile that made his heat skip a beat.

"I'd say, Himura Kenshin, that this is the beginning of something wonderful"

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Yay! Chapter 2 is done, and it's only been about 20 minutes since I submitted Chapter 1!!

I hope you guys like this…chapter 3 will come up soon. Again, please leave me feedback ^^ 

Aishiteru: I love you

Sessha wa baka de gozaru na: I'm an idiot, aren't I.

Yukata: light cotton kimono, used as pajamas or worn as clothing.


End file.
